Elvis Lives

Well, four are left... Steph just walked in the room, so we're here to watch the show. Only Daughtry, My Girl McPhee, Taylor and Elliott Yahmean are left, and tonight, they sing 2 songs each, singing Elvis songs. Sheesh.

In the lead up to watching this episode, I was actually playing Taylor Hicks Pac-Man. I wish I were making this up.

The Idols all flew to Graceland last week to see the Elvis sights. I went there in 2000 with Wookiee, Jill and her friend Shannon... it was a hoot. Priscilla Presley has met the Idols at the door--she's like 176 years old, and she looks like she's 30. A thirty year old ZOMBIE. Freak out.

Seriously, we went after Passion One Day in 2000 (the first one, now the many repeats since), and it was a blast. Its a great bio of The King, plus you get access to tons of areas and such... you see the staircase that leads directly to the bathroom featuring the toilet where Elvis died... I heard you actually could go up there at one point, but they blocked it off some years ago. Did you know that Fat Elvis (as in, mid-70s til death) used the slogan "Takin' Care of Business"? He's even got TCB on his airplane, which you can also go into. If you ever go, spend the 20 bucks for the grand tour, instead of just the cheap $10 tour... its worth it.

Anyway, the celebrity helper person this week is Tommy Mottola, who is known for helping launch the careers of Gloria Estefan, Destiny's Child and Mariah Carey--and was married to Mariah in her pre-skank days.

Taylor is up first doing "Jailhouse Rock", and I don't know if any other song could be as perfect for him, except for maybe "Heartbreak Hotel". Oh, and he has his mojo working too... he's dancing like he's got to pee, which is great vintage Taylor Hicks.

Randy loved it. Paula loved it, of course. Simon? "Terrible impersonation of Elvis. Karaoke with a capital 'K'". I liked it. Steph points out that the guy who plays keyboard for the Taylor Hicks Band has a mom-in-law who works with her. Somehow I'm connected to Taylor Hicks... we're practically Twinkies, man.

Chris Daughtry's first song is now here... he's doing "Suspicious Minds", which is a great Elvis song... Dwight Yoakam did a fantastic remake of that song in the mid-90s as well. I can already tell this is going to be good. I like this verson that Daughtry is doing here, because he's not rocking out to it too much, which you don't have to. Steph makes the point that the song itself is great, because there's not too much "hunka hunka" from Elvis in the original. I agree.

Randy says "Maybe not your best, but kinda nice." Paula loved it. Of course. ("See you in the finals"). Simon says "Sunglasses aside, that worked." Steph and I both agree. I think I'd like to see him or Taylor take on my favorite Elvis song, "A Little Less Conversation"... and Daughtry wears boxer-briefs. If you didn't see the show, don't ask.

Elliott Yahmean is singing "If I Could Dream", a song that I've never even heard of. Not that I'm an Elvis afficianado, but still... I forget where Elliott is from, but I can foresee him headlining a concert head at his homestate's version of Visionland... excuse me, Alabama Outdoor Adventures. I'll admit, he can sing. Good, strong voice.

Here's the part where the judges love him. Randy? "Yo yo, you laid it out... that was hot, baby!". Paula? "Best vocals from you this season." Simon? "So far, the best tonight." Sidebar, apparently, Elvis used to close some of his shows with this song. Ryan made the comment "Elliott, you have really come along this year..." as in, he's been made over. A la Clay Aiken.

And the part that makes me timid everytime, as in, I'm afraid she's going to screw it up. My Girl McPhee. Her first song is a "Hound Dog/All Shook Up" mix up, which should be pretty good. And she's bopping along on the table by the judges, while Randy and Paula snap, bounce and clap. Simon just sits. Here comes the transition from Hound Dog to All Shook Up... and it worked. Go figure.

Found out that she had bruises all up and down her knees and legs from last week's phenom performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree". Somewhere in the middle of this song, she dropped a lyric... but I didn't notice. Randy and Paula liked it, Simon says "It looked like a manic audition for theater." I liked it... didn't love it. Steph didn't like the song, even the original.

She looks like she was forcing herself to have fun with this song--face it, this is not My Girl McPhee's kind of music.

Taylor is coming back, and he's singing "In the Ghetto", Elvis' homage to the underclass citizens living in the ghetto, which is now commonly called "Da Hood". Good job, Taylor, good job. I like it. Steph liked it too... ("Woo hoo... go Taylor"). Plus, if the Idols decided to do a remake of "Collateral", Taylor could play Tom Cruise's character, if only for the hair.

Randy and Paula both liked it... and Simon says "You just sung your way into the next round."

And hey, Daughtry is singing "A Little Less Conversation", which was made popular by the recent Ocean's Eleven. My favorite Elvis song, plus a fun one to bop around Starbucks and sing. Again, he's not overdoing it, not over-rocking it... and it sounds great! Go Chris. He even does a Bo Bice mic stand twirl.

Randy says "Right key, that was hot!". Paula stops short of openly propositioning him onstage. Simon liked the first song better, just saying "it was okay". I thought it was good, personally. Steph says "His shirt is very thin." Its true. Until she said that, I hadn't noticed Daughtry's nipples.

Elliott Yahmean is singing "Trouble" from 1958, another attempt at making it "Elvis Songs that You've Never Heard Theme Night" on Idol. He kinda looks like the 28 year old version of the young kid from Malcolm in the Middle... Erik van der Schlitterbaum or something like that.

Hey, someone went to Elliott's hometown and got his Personality to finally show up. Guess this means I'll have to get back on the bandwagon now. He's rocking out with this song... Steph says "He sounds great, but his looks just don't go with the song."

Randy? "Your best performance, ever". Paula, who is was just short of stripping in her dancing, says "THIS was your best ever." Simon? "You came out fighting... you deserved to go to the next round."

And finally, My Girl McPhee is singing "Can't Help Falling In Love", which was done in a FANTASTIC remake by UB40 (like, in my Top 50 All Time Songs), featured in a movie called "Sliver" which I saw with Tisha Somethingorother back in 1993 and... wait, moving on.

My Girl McPhee is starting strong... I think its the Pantene like hair. If she were blonde, I don't think I'd have a celebrity crush on her--same for Ashley Judd and Teri Hatcher. And Stephanie. =)

Not too bad, I would say. Again, liked it... didn't love it. Randy says it was better than the first song... Paula says "fluff fluff fluff lovely voice sunshine fluffy". Simon says "This hasn't been one of your best nights... I wanted apple pie on its own. I got apple pie with cream on top... it was over the top." Strangely, I can understand him. Steph agrees as well.

My thoughts for the bottom two? Elliott Yahmean and My Girl McPhee. Unforunately, I think McPhee might go home this time. Steph says she thinks Elliott really pulled it out "...although Daughtry's songs were kinda boring tonight."